Two Broken Blades
by The Knight of Thirteen
Summary: The final duel between Dracule Mihawk and Roronoa Zoro before the Straw Hat Pirates reach Raftel. Zoro is given three days to prepare for the fight he has worked toward his entire life. In only three days, he will either fulfill his promise to a childhood friend, or die trying. - Second of Four in my One Piece series.
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note - All credit for this story belongs to megaME. They provided the details that prompted me to finally write this event, and i likely never would have otherwise! This takes place before the Straw Hat Pirates reach Raftel and details the final battle between Dracule Mihawk and Roronoa Zoro. This is meant to act as the first in my series of four One Piece stories, to be followed by Era of the King, Straw Hat Legacy, and The Legacy Storm. If you read the others first, you probably can guess what will happen, but if this is the first, maybe i will manage to exceed your expectations.**_

_**_**Disclaimer : I do not own One Piece or any of the other fandoms from which names, places, abilities, or references are taken! Imaginary points to anyone who catches said references throughout the story and PM's them to me. Dunno if you'll get anything real, but i give sneak peaks and deleted scenes to my repeated reviewers, so it isn't unthinkable.**_**_

* * *

_**Two Broken Blades**_

* * *

"What do you think she's doing here?" Usopp whispered to Chopper. The little doctor shrugged and glanced up at the crow's nest.

"They spent two years alone together on an island with a grumpy swordsman and a bunch of homicidal monkeys, then he hasn't seen or spoken to her in months. Maybe she's pregnant." Franky suggested. Chopper's eyes went wide. Just within earshot, Robin nearly dropped her book. She hadn't considered that...

"Pregnant? That long, they could already have a kid or two. But you'd think if that were it, she'd have brought them along... Unless he is a crappy father." Usopp said, thinking about the possibility of Zoro having a child. Ridiculous. Robin blushed slightly and brought her book closer to her face.

"Zoro would make a good father!" Chopper defended his friend. Robin caught herself nodding in agreement and blushed harder. She was happy no one was watching her.

"Robin! I brought you a drink! Are you feeling alright? You are very red! Chopper! Why aren't you keeping our beloved archaeologist in perfect health?! She could be sunburned!" Sanji was there, hovering over her protectively, trying to stop the offending sun light. She sighed and took the drink, thanking him and hoping he would go bother Nami. Luck was on her side this time.

As he was passing the sniper, doctor, and shipwright, he overheard something that made him stop dead in his tracks.

"I bet they are working on that whole becoming a father thing right now. They have been up there a while..." Franky said. Immediately, Sanji was standing over him, glaring down with fury.

"What?!" He demanded. Chopper shrank behind Usopp and pointed.

"Z-Zoro is in the crow's nest with Perona... They've been up there since lunch..." The doctor sighed in relief as Sanji's anger turned to shock, and then disappointment.

"Did everyone spend their two years with beautiful women but me?" He growled, lighting a cigarette and leaning against the wall beside the group. "The moneys would have been a better match for that moss head."

"So what if he has a lady friend? You flirt with every woman we meet. Seems fair to me." Usopp grinned at the twitch his comment caused in the cook's face.

Robin was biting her lip now. What if they were right? They were so close to Raftel, so close to fulfilling their dreams, and some childish stranger was stealing him away? It wasn't fair.

"I bet he saw her panties." Brook said, almost wistfully, playing a few short, sweet notes on his violin. Sanji sputtered at the proposal while Usopp and Franky rolled on the deck laughing. Chopper looked slightly confused. He still didn't entirely see the fascination with underwear. Robin's blush, that she had finally forced into retreat, returned with a vengeance. Zoro looking at another woman's panties? On that note, Zoro looking at her panties... She turned a darker shade of red. She gave up and just let the book lay on her face, praying Sanji wouldn't notice.

"Idiots! That jerk isn't seeing anyone's panties!" Nami roared at the guys, smacking them with the newspaper she had just received. They all cowered under her glare. Robin smiled. That's right. He isn't looking at her panties up there. He's just talking... about what?

Just as she was about to give in to the temptation to sprout an ear in the room, the trap door opened and the woman descended to the deck, departing almost immediately. Zoro did not follow.

Robin glanced around the deck. Sanji was still staring at the retreating form of the woman in the small boat. Usopp and Franky had turned back to talking about a new design they wanted to try. Chopper was going off to make sure all his supplies were ready for the upcoming battle they knew would find them at Raftel. Nami had gone to pick her oranges.

Luffy was looking at the crow's nest with a worried expression. That was unusual. Not much worried Luffy. Robin stood up, setting her book to the side, and walked over to her captain.

"What was that about?" She asked. Luffy shook his head.

"Don't know. He'll tell us later."

That didn't put her mind at ease. She wished he would come down and explain now, but she knew it was impossible to force the stubborn swordsman to do anything until he was ready.

* * *

The ghost woman sat elegantly on the bench that ringed the room, looking at the man she had come to see.

"The government is sending an extermination force to Raftel. You're all going to die, and Mihawk wants to have his final duel with you before that happens." Perona explains. Zoro looks at her like she's grown a second head. No... He could have understood that. That sort of thing happened all the time on the Grand Line.

"We're less than a month from Raftel! Why has he waited this long?" Zoro growled. The woman shrugged. She wasn't interested in his problems.

"He wanted you to be as strong as possible. You're lucky he didn't show up at Raftel and ask the marines to wait while you dueled. He wants you to meet him in three days. He has an island picked out where there will be... minimal collateral damage." Perona said.

"Where is the island?" Zoro asked. Surely Hawk Eye knew better than to expect him to follow directions. Perona tossed him a package. He opened it and held up the device.

"That is an Eternal Pose to the island he picked. Try not to get lost." The ghost woman laughed at him, but he was beyond caring about something that trivial. Three days. A final duel for the title of greatest swordsman in the world in three days. Was he ready?

He spent the next hour questioning the woman about everything she knew. How Mihawk had improved, the terrain on the island, and anything else he thought might influence the battle. When she left, he lay on the bench, forcing himself to assess his own weaknesses.

He had grown in strength, and his skill had improved, although not as greatly, and very little since his training under Mihawk had ended. He had faced few real challenges to his swordsmanship since then. He looked at the bottle of sake by the end of the bench and frowned. He would need to be better than his best. He needed to not only survive, but win, and come away in one piece so he could fight beside his captain at Raftel.

_Alright, Zoro. Why will you lose? You are strong, but you aren't as flexible any more. You lack precision, and your speed could use work. Three days. Flexibility and mobility, precision and control, and speed and agility. I can do this... I must._ He sat up and looked out the window. He'd been lost in thought for longer than he expected. It must be near dinner time. He descended the ladder and immediately felt two sets of eyes upon him. He caught Robin quickly looking back at her book, then turned to his captain.

"Luffy, can we make a detour?" He held up the Eternal Pose to his captain. Luffy looked at it, then back at Zoro.

"It's important?" He asked. Zoro nodded. "Nami! Change course!" He shouted, stretching his arm across the ship to hand her the guide needle. She shouted back several rude things about him needing to make up his mind, but they immediately felt the soft shift as the ship changed course.

"Thanks, Luffy."

"Of course. Now, tell us why we're going there." Luffy said. Zoro nodded and explained the situation to his captain, as well as the others who had gathered around when it became clear he was saying something important. Sanji dropped his cigarette and gaped at his friend.

"You are going to duel him again?! The first time he nearly cut you in half! Last time you lost an eye, and that was only training! He tore you apart, even at your best, idiot!" Sanji shouted.

"What?! Zoro got beaten that badly?!" Chopper clamped his arms around the swordsman's leg. "You can't! I can't put you back together if you get all chopped up!"

"Half the world already considers you the greatest... This duel seems unnecessary and dangerous." Robin added. She would have preferred him have a child with another woman than to be facing his death like this.

"Zoro, we need you! How are we supposed to face down the marines without you?! You have a duty to the crew to live!" Nami yelled at him. That hurt. Luffy held up his hands before anyone else could shout out at the first mate.

"Enough! Zoro has to do this. This is his dream. We're his nakama, and we're going to see him achieve his dream in three days. Understand?!" Luffy shouted. The gathered pirates stared at him in amazement, then slowly, they all nodded. "You'll win, Zoro."

"Thanks, Captain." Zoro said. Sanji shook his head and went to finish dinner. Usopp was still in shock. The last time he had seen Zoro fight Mihawk, his friend had nearly died. He'd been spared out of mercy and respect, but this time? What if Mihawk just finished him off?

After dinner, Zoro began his training. He stretched, and frowned. He had become stronger, but the added muscle mass restricted his movement more than he liked. He went to the railing, kicking off the ground and holding himself upside down over the railing. From this position, he began stretching and limbering his body in complicated twists and bends, nearly dancing along the thin rail. Robin stayed in her chair far later than usual, watching the swordsman move so gracefully up and down the railing.

When he flipped to the ground, she decided it was time to leave. He had pulled off his thick green outfit and stood in the cool night air in just a loose pair of pants. She hurried to the room she shared with Nami, trying to keep from staring as he began another series of stretches.

Robin began to worry when she saw him still working the next morning.

"Zoro! Did you sleep at all last night?!" She demanded. He nodded.

"Four hours. That's all I can spare. Four hours of sleep, twenty hours of practice. Three days..." He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and without taking a step, flipped perfectly, landing on one hand, then moved into a roll, leaping to his feet smoothly and using his momentum to carry him through a full front flip to land on his feet again. The improvement in his range of motion was already incredible, but he seemed unsatisfied.

"Four hours isn't enough, Zoro..." She tried to say, but he shook his head.

"Four hours is plenty, because it must be. Please, don't distract me. I have a lot of work to do." He set off again, repeating the series of motions with perfect form several times before moving on. Robin walked away and sat in her deck chair, watching the man closely. How could he have improved so much in such a short time?

The others were going about their duties, cleaning, cooking, keeping on course, and most importantly, staying out of Zoro's way. Luffy had issued orders, unusual in itself, that no one interrupt him. The crew was worried, but obeyed. No one wanted to be responsible for being the difference between life and death for the swordsman.

As soon as dinner was finished, he suddenly changed his practice completely. Instead of gymnastic feats that awed the entire crew, he was now setting up various junk around the ship. Mushrooms, corks, folded paper. Sanji almost snapped at him for taking food without asking, but his curiosity kept his mouth shut as he watched Zoro set the vegetable upside down on the ship railing.

As the pirates watched, he drew his sword, closed his eyes, and began to move. Each cut came down with precision, chopping a mushroom without scratching the wood beneath, skewering the cork out of the air as it danged from a thread, and shearing the piece of paper in two. These acts of near impossibility continued for the rest of the evening.

A few times a day, he would slow down, allowing his muscles to cool, then sharpen and clean his blades. Robin stayed up that night to make sure he actually did sleep. What she saw barely counted. When he had decided it was time to rest, he had carefully sheathed his swords, and then sat on her deck chair, legs crossed, back straight. He was meditating, not sleeping. She almost ran out and demanded he sleep, but she knew better.

By dinner the second day, he could split a hair as it fell to the ground.

The third day, the last before the duel, he was never still. After several hours of drills, forcing himself to even greater speeds, he asked Luffy to test him in Gear Second. The crew was astounded to watch the swordsman weaving between the blows of their captain's Jet Gatling attack.

After dinner, they are surprised to see Zoro remain seated with them.

"No more training?" Robin asks, tentatively. He nods.

"I am at my best. If I can't beat him, then I am not worthy. Tonight, I will sleep and meditate, and spend time with my friends, and tomorrow morning, we'll see what fate has in store for me." Zoro grinned. That had always been his attitude. There was only so much good practice could do. At a point, it came down to life taking its own course.

Zoro spent the evening in the kitchen with his friends, joking, telling stories, laughing. He told them the story of hos he picked the cursed sword in Loguetown, and even the details of his training in their two years apart. Sanji explained the details of his first fight with Mihawk, which did not help to ease the tension at the back of their minds, but he thought everyone should know.

Nami told them about how he had started his debt to buy two swords and still had not paid it back. She made it clear that if he lost, she'd triple his debt.

Usopp recounted Zoro's fight with the many-armed fishman at Arlong Park, and how incredible it had been to watch him spinning through the storm of arms and swords.

Brook remembered Zoro defeating the samurai that held his shadow and claiming the sword he once carried.

Robin recalled him protecting her both in Skypiea and from Aokiji.

Franky laughed about how once upon a time, it was Zoro's name that caused people to run, not Luffy's.

Chopper told about the many times Zoro had given him courage and helped him grow stronger.

And Luffy reminded the swordsman of the promise they had made. He would become the Pirate King and Zoro would become the greatest swordsman in the world. They would fight side by side to the very end.

Zoro stood up and stretched, then went out onto the deck, setting near Robin's chair and cleaning and sharpening his swords one last time.

"Shusui... You've grown on me, you know. You gave me a lot of trouble at first, but I think we work pretty well together now." Zoro laughed as he looked at the hard, heavy, black blade. "I'm going to be counting on you tomorrow." He sheathed the sword, now glittering in the moonlight, and picked up another.

"Sandai Kitetsu. The problem child. Always so thirsty for blood. Well, you'll get it tomorrow, mine or his. Let's see if my luck is still stronger than your curse." His sharpest blade slid quietly back into it's sheath. He reverently lifted the third blade.

"Wado Ichimonji... We've been through a lot together. I know you miss her as much as I do. We might go see her tomorrow, but don't be in a hurry." He smiled sadly at the white sword. "You've never let me down before, so don't start now, okay?"

"Do you talk to your swords often?" Robin asked, coming to sit in her chair and watch him. He grinned and laughed, setting the three blades together carefully.

"Sometimes. I see them as much as my nakama as any of the crew. They have been by my side through every fight, and they have personalities of their own. Do you mean to say you have never spoken to a historical relic, or one of your books?" Zoro raised an eyebrow and Robin laughed as well, admitting defeat.

"Alright, I understand. Zoro... Are you scared?" She looked at him. He seemed so calm. Not at all like the frantic and determined man who she had watched training the last few nights.

"Yes." He looked up at her, smiling sincerely. She ignored her heart speeding up. "Dracule Mihawk... Hawk Eye. The greatest swordsman in the world... Even after two years of his training, I could not beat him once. Not even a scratch. I know I have grown stronger since then, but I am scared, Robin. I'm afraid I won't be able to keep my promise and fight beside you all at Raftel."

"You'll win... I believe in you, Zoro." She smiled with all the reassurance she could. "You should get some sleep now. Tomorrow is a big day. You are going to become the greatest swordsman in the world."

"You're right. I'll see you in the morning, Robin. And thank you for believing in me. It means a lot." Zoro stood and stretched, then climbed the ladder to the crow's nest, laying out on the bench and clearing his mind. After an hour of meditation, he fell asleep.

* * *

Dawn came, as it always did, with no regard for the eagerness or dread of those about to face the oncoming day. Zoro awoke as the first ray of sunlight peaked over the horizon. Chopper, Nami, Robin, Luffy, and Sanji were already awake. The navigator had docked them near the island and was now picking oranges. Sanji was preparing breakfast, and Chopper was... Chopper had his medical room prepared to sew Zoro back together. That was not comforting.

When he hit the deck, Robin smiled at him from her chair, and Luffy patted his shoulder, grinning like an idiot.

"Moss Head! Get in here!" Sanji shouted angrily at him. Zoro rolled his eyes and walked to the kitchen, closing the door behind him. Sanji was leaning against the counter with an unlit cigarette between his lips.

"What do you want Ero-Cook?" Zoro asked.

"Win." The cook didn't look up. "We need our first mate. You better win."

"I will. Thanks." Zoro was surprised. Sanji rarely showed concern for him, and the only talked civilly when they were on night watch together.

"Good, now get out, I'm busy cooking!" Sanji shouted, kicking the swordsman through the doors and turning back to the stove.

Zoro wandered the ship, running his fingers over the walls. This was his home, and he had rarely stepped into some of the rooms. When he returned to the deck, the rest of the crew was up. It was time for breakfast, then he would have only a couple of hours until he was to meet Hawk Eye at the center of the uninhabited island.

They ate in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. As much as they expressed confidence in their first mate, they all had the nagging fear that they might lose a dear friend today. After he had eaten, Zoro went out to the deck and ran through a series of exercises to warm himself up. The sun was nearly straight above their heads. It was time.

Zoro had changed from his usual heavy green coat to a loose pair of pants and a comfortable shirt. Clothes that would not hinder his sight or movement. The comfortable weight of his three swords was at his side. The rest of the crew stood around him, giving him their encouragements. He took a deep breath and tied his black bandana over his head, keeping his hair from falling into his eyes, and absorbing some of the sun's rays.

"Stay on the ship. I don't want anyone to get hurt besides me and Hawk Eye." Zoro said, then he left them, walking off toward the clearing where he knew his rival waited.

From the ship, the Straw Hat Pirates watched as trees fell and boulders split across the island. The battle was intense and destructive, shaking the ground and causing the waves to lap higher on the edge of the ship. After nearly two hours of battle, things changed.

Where they had started with powerful cuts from their swords, the two swordsmen realized all too well that neither could best the other on strength alone anymore. The blasts were tearing great canyons in the ground, and doing nothing besides eliminating any firm footing. When the two finally clashed blade on blade, the ringing of steel echoed to the shore and beyond.

"It sounds like thunder... They are so strong, it's terrifying!" Chopper said, staring in awe as sparks flashed into the sky.

They caught glimpses of movement through the splintered trees that separated them from their friend, but they couldn't make out any details. Only flashes of metal in the sunlight.

Mihawk and Zoro slashed at each other ferociously for hours on end, both slowly tiring under the constant onslaught of crippling blows. Turning on his heel, Zoro came under Mihawk's guard and plunged the cursed sword into the warlord's chest. The razor sharp blade pierced the small cross blade hanging from Hawk Eye's chest and an inch into his ribs before he was able to leap back, saving his life by a fraction of a second.

With a powerful blow, he struck out and slammed the dull back of Yoru into the flat of the cursed sword. The bones in Zoro's right arm rattled as he felt the impact ring through the metal, then before his eyes, Sandai Kitetsu snapped in two, the last foot of the blade spinning up and away, leaving the broken remainder and hilt still clutched in Zoro's hand.

Mihawk leaped back to dodge a vicious swipe from the black blade, and the two panting swordsmen watched each other for a moment from a distance. Then, like a single deadly raindrop, Sandai Kitetsu's cursed blade dropped from above.

Hawk Eye caught the blur of movement only an instant before impact, and only had time to move back a partial step. The razor edge slid down his face and buried in the stone, his blood covering it's blade.

"It looks like your luck isn't stronger than it's curse, Mihawk." Zoro grinned. If ever there was a sign his swords were his nakama, that was it. He could win this. His swords were on his side. He jerked to the side, dodging a savage attack from the injured warlord, then slashed upward with his heavy black blade, catching the guard of Yoru and knocking the follow up attack out of the way.

He dashed back toward the solid ground and found his footing in time to block Mihawk's next blow. He felt the muscles in his legs strain as the great swordsman had laid his weight and strength behind the downward strike, nearly knocking Shusui from his hands. For a moment, he was afraid he was going to buckle under the incredible force, but the blood returned to his strained legs and he pushed back, swiping wide with Wado Ichimonji.

Mihawk gasped in pain as the white blade ripped open his chest from the bottom of his rib cage to the opposite shoulder. He backed away, breathing heavily, sweat covered him from head to toe, soaking his black hair.

"You have indeed become a great swordsman, Roronoa Zoro. But have you surpassed me?" Mihawk stood straight, Yoru still gripped firmly in his hands.

Zoro watched his rival and took stock of their states. He had cuts over most of his body, though thanks to his last three days of training, he had managed to limit to only shallow gashes, rather than fatal blows. He could see splatters of his blood all across the stones that surrounded them. He could feel his body tiring, and he knew, if he did not win soon, he never would. His body would give out from exhaustion and blood loss, and he would die here.

Mihawk, on the other hand, had very few injuries, though the ones he bore where serious. The small puncture on his sternum still bled steadily, fragments of the small cross lodged in the wound, keeping it open. The deep cut across his chest had soaked most of his lower body in red. And his face... His eye had not opened since Sandai Kitetsu had fallen and cut him. He had been blinded by the cursed blade.

"You cut my chest, the first time I lost to you, now I've cut yours. You blinded my eye while you trained me, and my sword has returned the favor..." Zoro wiped the blood from Shusui and the remains of Kitetsu and sheathed them, allowing Wado Ichimonji to fall into his left hand. "Now we both stand with one sword. So, Hawk Eye. Have I surpassed you?"

Zoro rushed forward, blade flashing in the fading sunlight, their swords colliding like stars, sparks lighting up the evening with each strike. They no longer bothered trying to injure the other, every blow was meant to kill. Mihawk's mighty blade was heavy, and though it's monstrous impacts were taking their toll on his opponent, they were also tiring him, and he was already nearly delirious. For a man who had lived his life with the eyes of a hawk, being half blind was more crippling than losing and arm or leg.

Dracule Mihawk felt his arms tremble as he raised his sword, and charged, driving the blade at Roronoa Zoro's heart with the last of his strength. Zoro cried out and matched him, lunging and putting his weight behind the white sword, feeling it strike against the black blade between them. As they both rushed forward, they both heard the rending crack that meant a blade had broken as their shoulders collided.

They stood like that for several heartbeats. Bloodstained and beaten, their heads resting on the shoulder of the other as they gasped for breath, sweat and blood nearly blinding them as the sky had turned red with the sunset. The island was destroyed, boulders rendered to gravel, trees to splinters. The broken blade of Sandai Kitetsu lodged in the ground some yards away.

Luffy had felt the change in the wills on the island, and had immediately led his crew to the place where the two swordsman stood, weakly supporting each other. The pool of blood around them was growing by the moment. Luffy stopped at the edge of the clearing, staring in shock at the man who was so bathed in his own blood that his hair was no longer green.

The last rays of the sun reflected off the pool of blood as the two swordsmen shifted and moved apart.

Half of the great black blade Yoru clattered to the stone ground between them as Wado Ichimonji slid smoothly from Hawk Eye's chest.

"Yes. Roronoa Zoro, you are the greatest swordsman in the world." Mihawk grinned, letting out a joyful laugh that immediately turned to a cough as blood sprayed from his lungs. Yoru's hilt slipped from his hand, and he fell. Zoro raised Wado Ichimonji to the sky and looked up at the clouds, painted red by the sunset.

"Did you see that, Kuina? I did it. For both of us. And for Luffy. I did it..." His eyes closed, and he fell backward, the world spinning around him as the lack of blood finally claimed him.

* * *

When he finally awoke, he wondered if it had been a dream. As soon as he tried to move and felt the fire of a thousand cuts across his body, he knew it was real.

"Zoro's awake!" Chopper cried out joyfully. "He's awake!"

"About damn time, Moss Head!" Sanji ran into the room, stopping and smiling with relief when he saw the swordsman had opened his eyes. "You scared us all, Zoro."

"Sorry." Zoro smiled and let his head fall back on his pillow. He felt Chopper checking his bandages and heard the rest of the crew running toward the room.

"I knew you would win!" Luffy's grin nearly split his head. He could see Robin quietly smiling as she wiped the last tears from her cheeks. They all gathered around and congratulated him, patting his shoulders gently so as not to stretch his wounds. When Chopper ordered them out, another voice spoke up.

"I have never had the honor of facing a more skillful opponent in my life, and I faced the likes of Vista, Shanks, and Rayleigh." Dracule Mihawk was laying in the other bed, a content smile on his face. "I could not wished for a more worthy man to pass my title on to."

"The honor is mine, Hawk Eye. You trained me so that I could protect my captain. You spared my life once so that I could challenge you again. You rightfully carried that title for many years. I'm honored that you believed I was worthy of the chance to claim it." Zoro grinned at the ceiling, unable to lift his head to meet the eye of his rival.

"I stayed to see you wake, and to give you this my self." Hawk Eye gritted his teeth against the pain as he stood, and then lifted the broken pieces of his sword into Zoro's line of sight. "Yoru is yours, to keep, or destroy, or reforge as you wish. The remains of Sandai Kitetsu were recovered for you as well."

"Thank you." Zoro said. There was nothing more to say. Mihawk leaned against the wall as he slowly walked to the door. Perona appeared and supported him, helping him stand. He paused and turned back to the victorious swordsman.

"When you reach Raftel... Good luck. Perhaps you stand more of a chance than I gave you credit for."

With that, he was gone, leaving Zoro alone with the swords. The two broken blades, and the two unbroken. Wado Ichimonji had pulled through for him again.

"Thanks Kuina." He fell back into unconsciousness with a triumphant grin on his face. He dreamed of his childhood friend, and the pride she would have for him and her sword. Because of course, he had not defeated Hawk Eye alone. The white blade had fought with him to the very end.

* * *

_**I love Zoro's relationship with his swords. The way he sees them as more than just pieces of metal.**_


	2. IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTICE

_**IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTICE!**_

* * *

_I am planning to do a piece by piece re-write of my One Piece series to correct a few continuity errors and numerous spelling and grammatical errors. I would like to know if there is any demand for me to make a fully chronological composition of the four independent stories? If so, leave a **review** or **PM** me. If there is no demand for such a thing, i will simply refurbish what i have and re-post the corrected version. If there is, I will begin rewriting in chronological order and posting the segments in a new story._

_Your input is very important! I'm sorry for any false hope that you may have gotten from an alert of another chapter being posted, but this seemed like the best way to get answers! I do have a few ideas for additional chapters that may sneak in to the new version, so keep your eyes out for additions and changes._

_Thanks for your support!_


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